


Laundry Day

by bronzemist



Series: Peapod McHanzo Week 2018 [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Laundry, M/M, Peapod McHanzo Week, Pre-Relationship, other members of Overwatch make brief appearances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 01:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13260825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bronzemist/pseuds/bronzemist
Summary: for Day 3 ofaughtpunkandwyntera's peapod Mchanzo week.Jesse McCree knows better than to go to bed after a messy mission without showering first, but it doesn't stop him from doing it anyway. Looks like he's spending his day off doing laundry.





	Laundry Day

The floor of the conference room is covered in a disgusting mixture of mud, blood, and oil, which is dripping from the bodies of the just-returned agents. Winston is visibly recoiling from the stench, and even Ana's nose is slightly wrinkled. The only one who seems unaffected is Soldier: 76, and only because he's wearing his visor.

For his part, Jesse McCree is soaked, cold, and bone-tired. He wants nothing more than to strip off his filthy gear and collapse into his bed. Judging from the expressions on his fellow agents' faces, the sentiment is shared.

"You're all dismissed," Winston says eventually. Jesse lets out a long, relieved sigh. "Good work, and, uh, you all may want to shower before going to bed."

"Thank you, Winston," Symmetra says coolly. Out of all of them, she is the one most likely to actually take that advice – Jesse can still hear the eardrum-piercing shriek she'd let out when she'd gotten doused by oil from that exploding hovercar.

While Jesse can see the wisdom in getting all of this gunk off him before getting into bed, the cloudiness of his thoughts and aches throughout his body are making him desperate to just lie down. And he's not the only one – Hanzo, who was forced to summon his dragons several times throughout the mission, looks to be half-asleep on his prosthetic feet. He jerks in shock when Zarya brushes past him on her way out the door.

Jesse firmly ignores how adorable he finds the startled expression on the other man's face, nodding at him as he heads towards the door.

"We're all finished here, partner," he says to him, "they're releasing us at last."

"Ah, I see." Hanzo quickly regains his footing, following Jesse out of the room and down the corridor. "I must confess I am looking forward to sleep."

"You and me both." Jesse agrees, grimacing as his boots squelch with his every step. "And gettin' out of these clothes."

Hanzo has a similar expression of distaste on his face as he looks down at his own clothes, now more brown than blue. "An understandable impulse."

Neither of them say anything more until they reach Hanzo's door, and then it is only a simple exchange of goodnights, both men too tired to say more. Jesse continues down the corridor until he reaches his own door, feeling pathetically grateful when Athena opens it for him.

He strips off his many layers as quickly as possible: hat, boots, belt, serape, body armour, flannel, jeans - all of it is piled by the door. As soon as he is stripped down to his boxers, he collapses face-first into his bed.

It's just a standard mattress, but to the exhausted cowboy, it feels like falling onto a cloud. Jesse groans loudly, rolling around until he finds the perfect position. It doesn't take long after that for him to fall into a deep sleep.

 

Staring down at his sheets, Jesse deeply regrets not bothering to shower before he went to sleep last night. There is dried blood and mud smeared everywhere; he can actually see the outline where his metal arm rested beside the pillow. The pillowcase is particularly bad: it seems that every bit of gunk that was in his hair has been transferred onto the cotton. It looks a little like someone's been murdered in his bed.

"You're a damn idiot, Jesse McCree," he mutters to himself.

Freshly showered and dressed in his most comfortable t-shirt and sweatpants, the last thing he wants to do right now is laundry. But it has to get done eventually, and the clothes he was wearing last night are still piled in a heap by the door. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.

When Jesse enters the Watchpoint's laundry room, he is surprised to find the room already occupied. Hanzo is sitting cross-legged on top of a quietly humming dryer, a book resting on his knees. The clothes he's wearing are not dissimilar to Jesse's own, and his hair is loose, falling like a curtain around his face.

Jesse's considered Hanzo Shimada an aggravatingly handsome man since the day they met, but something about seeing him looking so unguarded – so soft, for lack of a better term – well, it makes him feel a bit as though he's been shoved in the chest.

He must make some noise, because Hanzo looks up, a small smile quirking up the edge of his mouth.

"I see I'm not the only one who neglected to bathe before going to bed last night," he comments wryly.

Jesse firmly pushes aside the flustered thoughts buzzing around his mind, flashing Hanzo a sheepish grin.

"Yeah, woke up this morning to a bed that looks like a dog rolled around in it," he says.

Hanzo taps his chin.

"Well, you are rather hairy..."

"Hey now!" Jesse laughs, a bit surprised at the comment. He hadn't pegged the archer as being much for teasing.

"I put the stain remover back in the cupboard, if you have need of it," Hanzo says, nodding his head at the cupboard in question.

"Thank you kindly," says Jesse, retrieving the bottle. He sets down his laundry basket on one of the tables and begins going through the contents, applying the stain remover as needed. It's very needed.

"Might be better to just wash them in this stuff," he mutters, mostly to himself.

"You will likely have to run them through twice," Hanzo tells him. "I had to."

"Damn," Jesse grumbles. He hadn't planned on spending his day doing laundry, but it looks like it might end up that way after all. "When'd you get up, then?"

"I rose at dawn, as I usually do," Hanzo informs him, book still lying, apparently forgotten, in his lap. "When I realized how filthy my sheets were, I couldn't bring myself to go back to sleep."

"Didn't realize you were such an early riser," Jesse says easily. He himself is of a flexible nature when it comes to such things, but tends to sleep in after missions, particularly ones that were as difficult as the previous day's.

Hanzo shrugs, but something about the casual gesture rings false. "It is a habit of many years."

Jesse knows well enough to recognize when he's stumbled on something sensitive, so he lets the conversation die, focusing on covering all of the stains. He focuses particularly on his serape, determined to at the very least save it from any lasting damage.

"That... poncho, it is important to you?" The half-question is unexpected. Jesse looks over to see Hanzo watching him, shoulders tense but expression curious.

"It's called a serape," he informs him, "and yeah, it's pretty important to me." Before Hanzo can say anything else, he continues, "It was a gift from someone."

'Someone' is Gabriel Reyes, but Jesse doesn't want to talk about that; not when he and Hanzo are getting along so well.

Hanzo makes a small, understanding noise. "I feel the same way about my scarf," he offers, surprisingly open. "It belonged to my mother, before she gave it to me."

"He's gone now, but it reminds me of him." Jesse says.

_Here, kid,_ Gabe said, tossing him a bundle of warm red fabric. _I'm tired of listening to your teeth chattering._

Hanzo nods, understanding.

They fall silent again. Jesse loads his clothes and sheets into a washer, but falters a bit when it comes to setting the cycle. Something about cold water and blood is niggling at him, but he can't remember if it's to remove stains or set them.

"Wash in cold water to remove bloodstains," Hanzo reminds him, focus returned to his book.

"Ah – thanks, sweetpea."

Washer running, Jesse suddenly finds himself at loose ends. He didn't think to bring anything with him to entertain himself, but the brightly flashing numbers on the washer tell him he's got a little less than 30 minutes to kill now.

"If you wish to go get your phone, I will ensure no one absconds with your laundry," Hanzo says, looking up briefly in order to give him an amused look.

"Much obliged." Jesse says, reddening ever so slightly. He skedaddles before he has the chance to do anything else embarrassing.

As he heads towards his room, he finds his thoughts drifting back to what he'd felt when he'd first seen Hanzo sitting on top of the dryer. He's always recognized that he finds Hanzo physically attractive, but that wasn't physical attraction. It had left him feeling a bit breathless, wondering about how he could see Hanzo looking that unguarded again...

"Oh, damn," Jesse says aloud, stopping.

This is a hell of a time to realize he's developed a crush on perhaps the least available man in all of Overwatch.

**Author's Note:**

> i'll be honest, i really struggled with this one. inspiration just didn't come. still, i'm determined to complete this week. i don't think it's my best work, but i'm tired of staring at it
> 
> you can find me on tumblr at [bronzemist](http://bronzemist.tumblr.com/)


End file.
